Differences between Japanese and British participants in self-reported verbal strategies to appear convincing

The relationship between Japanese adults’ age and self-reported verbal strategies when lying

“…According to Liu’s (2016) classification, the United Kingdom is a low-context culture, and Japan is a high-context culture. Tabata and Vrij (2022) compared self-reported verbal strategies used to appear convincing when lying and truth-telling between British and Japanese participants. Deception research has been conducted mainly in the so-called WEIRD (Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic; Gerlach et al, 2019 ) cultural groups, and this study was an exception to this trend.…”

“…Deception research has been conducted mainly in the so-called WEIRD (Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic; Gerlach et al, 2019 ) cultural groups, and this study was an exception to this trend. Tabata and Vrij (2022) asked participants to rate how much they endorsed 16 self-reported verbal strategies that lie tellers and truth tellers use to appear convincing. They extracted these 16 strategies from previous studies all conducted in low-context cultures using an open-ended questions method ( Strömwall et al, 2006 ; Hartwig et al, 2007 , 2010 ; Hines et al, 2010 ; Strömwall and Willén, 2011 ).…”

“…For example, British participants were more concerned with providing innocent reasons and avoiding/denying incriminating evidence when lying than when truth-telling, which was not the case for Japanese participants. Tabata and Vrij (2022) also reported that the Japanese were less likely than the British to self-report using verbal strategies based on Grice’s cooperative principles (1975). The Grice cooperative principles describe how people achieve effective conversation in general social situations.…”

“… Tabata and Vrij (2022) asked participants to complete a verbal deception strategy questionnaire which included verbal strategies based on studies using the open-ended question method conducted in Sweden and the United States, which are classified as low-context cultures ( Liu, 2016 ). Tabata and Vrij (2022) could thus compare differences in Japanese and British participants in endorsing verbal strategies identified in low-context cultures but did not give Japanese participants the opportunity to report strategies that are unique to their culture. In the current study we used the open-ended question method to identify verbal strategies used by Japanese participants when lying.…”

“…In the current study we used the open-ended question method to identify verbal strategies used by Japanese participants when lying. Unlike the closed-ended question methods used by Tabata and Vrij (2022) , an open-ended question method has the advantage that respondents can report new verbal deception strategies (e.g., Vrij, 2008 ).…”